Baby oysters use natural ocean sounds to find their homes. However, research from the University of Adelaide shows that human noise disrupts this process.
Dr. Brittany Williams explains that as natural ocean sounds fade due to habitat loss, loud human-made noises like shipping and construction interfere with how marine larvae locate and settle in their environments. This poses challenges for efforts to restore oyster habitats using natural sounds.
The research published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B reveals that marine organisms are highly susceptible to increased anthropogenic noise. They rely on sound for various essential activities, such as sensing their environment, navigation, communication, predator avoidance, and locating food and mates.
Dr. Dominic McAfee from the University of Adelaide noted that while previous studies showed that acoustic technology could enhance oyster recruitment in habitat restoration, the new research highlights the limitations of such technology in noisy environments. Specifically, these speakers did not improve larval recruitment in areas with high levels of human-made noise.
Professor Sean Connell emphasized that pervasive noise pollution might obscure natural ocean sounds, potentially affecting marine ecosystem health and resilience. Despite these challenges, researchers remain hopeful that acoustic enrichment could still be beneficial in less noisy areas, supporting recruitment processes crucial for successful habitat restoration.
The study concludes that increasing human-made noise in the ocean disrupts the natural sounds baby oysters rely on to settle and grow. This interference could impact efforts to restore oyster habitats using sound technology.
While the technology may not work well in noisy areas, it could still be helpful in quieter environments for supporting oyster recruitment and habitat restoration.
Journal reference :
- Brittany R. Williams, Dominic McAfee, et al., Anthropogenic noise disrupts acoustic cues for recruitment. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0741.